The Grandparents’ Rights Association was established in 2009 in Easley, SC with 5 members. Our Director Mr. John Schafer had learned that when a child is removed from the home and the parents loose their parental rights it automatically terminated the rights of all the other family members, including the Grandparents. He also saw that South Carolina’s Grandparent visitation law was too restrictive. For example, at that time, the law stated that in order to get visitation you had to prove the parent unfit. These 2 observations are what birthed his vision for the Grandparents’ Rights Association of South Carolina.
Since 2009 we have grown to approximately 4,000 members and 37 other states have come on board to join our mission. This rapid growth is what prompted the birth of the Grandparents’ Rights Association of the United States of America. To view what States have joined us visit http://grausa.org
Grandparents’ Rights Association of SC has been successful in supporting bills and helping to get them passed into law. We speak in front of the SC House and Senate Subcommittee’s. We also encourage others to call and e-mail the House of Representatives and Senators. For your convenience we have provided a direct Link to the House and Senate under “Laws and Resources.”
Our organization was instrumental in getting the part in the Grandparent Visitation Law that stated you had to prove a parent unfit changed (we no longer have to prove that). We also rallied and supported the Law that now gives Grandparents standing in family court with DSS cases. And we are we were very involved with House Bill 4348 which passed in June, 2014.
Which removed another part of the restrictive law that stated (2) the grandparent maintained a relationship similar to a parent-child relationship with the minor child (we no longer have to prove that we had a parental type bond with the Grandchild).
Our Mission Statement
We support the preservation of the complete family, Grandparents are family members, therefore we stand for family rights. We believe, for the well being of the children, the complete family, whenever possible, should be allowed to remain together.
THE GOAL OF OUR ORGANIZATION
To continue to propose and help pass legislation in South Carolina to protect the rights of the children and their extended family.
Please visit our Store, where you can purchase T-Shirts, Jewelry, stickers and Magnets for your vehicle. The Grandparents’ Rights Association of the USA and SC believes that this is a God ordained ministry. Thank you for supporting our mission, and God Bless You!